Alley's Adventures

Thursday, February 12, 2009

carms adventure

CaRMS = Canadian Residency Matching Service

So... for the last 3 weeks I have been traveling the country interviewing for a potential residency spot (ack -- come July i will be a "real" doctor?!). I must say that I have had incredible CaRMs karma (haha) with regards to the weather. +7 in Calgary... a 'balmy' -5 in Winnipeg, snowstorms hitting cities the day after i leave... nooo complaints. UNTIL YESTERDAY.

I shall attempt a summary with my facebook statuses (statii?):

Alli is stuck in the Ottawa airport and has no hope of making it on time to her Dal interview.
- we arrived at the ottawa airport, having dutifully checked in online the night before and carefully selecting the most optimal seats, only to find out our flight to toronto had been cancelled due to rain (rain?! rain?!!), and we would not be able to make the connection to Halifax
- panic? us? never! the trusty WJ agent sorted us out, and i calmly emailed and phoned Halifax to say i would not (sorry) be there at 8am tomorrow (thursday) morning
- we then proceeded to enjoy a meal courtesy of westjet: hellooo booster juice and harvey's burger!
- we also anxiously watched the flight board as our flight was delayed and redelayed...

Alli is spending the night in Toronto courtesy of WestJet and hoping Dal won't mind if she is 3 hours late for her interview!
- we did make it to toronto well before midnight and WJ put us up in the Sandalwood Suites near the airport which was good, but energy flagging, we weren't too pleased when virtually every hotel shuttle came and went (some more than once!) before ours finally arrived

Alli is not impressed that "many of the hotel shuttles are booked" forcing her to take the 4:10 shuttle for a 7:20 flight.
- we were EVEN LESS PLEASED when the hotel clerk told us that all the hotel shuttles except the 4:10am and 8:10am were booked, this despite the fact that there were enough rerouted guests to fill another shuttle (he didn't offer, and i guess we were all too tired to beg)
- we did however make ample use of our 10 dollar breakfast vouchers at the airpor the next morning (after an anxiety inducing nap while attempting to clutch our belongings and sleep at the same time) ... hellooo grande green tea latte, banana loaf and white chocolate macadamia cookie

Alli is still managing to laugh even though she is unexpectedly in St. John's, Newfoundland while her interviewers are in Halifax.
- shortly after the "we are beginning our descent into Halifax" announcement, it was apparent the plane was... clearly going the wrong way, after 15 minutes of wondering what was going on, the only thing to do when the captain came on the mike and said "folks, the visibility in Halifax prevented a landing, so we're going on to St. John's" was burst out laughing
- yay for more WJ vouchers: helloo garden salad, everything bagel with cream cheese, and an ever energising Coca-Cola

Alli flew to Halifax from Ottawa via Toronto and St. John's NFLD in order to do a phone interview from the airport.
- we did eventually make it to Halifax.. but by this time it was so late, and because it's a 45 minute cab ride into the city, and i am oh so determined to get on the plane to Vancouver tonight (as originally scheduled), we managed to finagle phone interviews... there is definitely something awkward about doing an interview on a cellphone, pausing while the airport staff make overhead annoucements and feeling odd to be not in a suit, but a very casual (but oh so comfy) femme docs t-shirt

Alli is happy to be done with interviews (albeit a bit anti-climactically), but sorry not to be able to say a proper goodbye to friendly (& helpful!) CaRMs buddies:(.

The End.

posted by allimalia 2:28 PM

Thursday, December 25, 2008

merry merry christmas!

it's a white christmas in van this year -- VERY VERY white. so white, that my car is snowed in. i'm currently on a quest to locate a shovel so i resuce my poor princess velma. (princess in memory of princess olga, velma because the colour is reminscent of velma's glasses, velma of scooby doo that is.)

last christmas as a student - eek. next time this year i might be working!! i shall miss these 2 week christmas luxuries i enjoy as an academic. i'm not sure i'm ready to join the working world... but the reality is that in less than one month i'll be off on a crazy circuit of the country as i criss-cross back and forth and try to hock myself off as a valuable addition to any number of residency training programmes. and just over 3 months from now (while i'm enjoying the excitement of medicine in singapore) i'll find out the beginning of the rest of my life.

merry christmas and happy 2009 everyone!

posted by allimalia 12:29 PM

Thursday, September 25, 2008

to radiate or not to radiate

in sunny toronto for 3 more days. when i arrived last weeked it was a rainy toronto, but no sign of rain drops since the first night when i arrived (via train from montreal). 5hours on a train with a screaming kid+pouring rain+too much baggage+unhelpful taxi driver = cranky me.

but since then, it's all been uphill. loving my elective. yes, i AM a nerd. xray beams excite me. have also met up with friends and tried out some yummy foods (strawberry beer?? hmm, i guess that isn't a food). haven't managed to see all the people i know in toronto. what is it about this city and everyone i know moving here in the last 5 years or so?

sitting in clinic right now (yes, AND blogging). the doc is typing away on his email and said we won't start for a few minutes yet.

next stop on the elective circuit is ladysmith, bc. as i recently discovered, this is on vancouver island.

posted by allimalia 6:13 AM

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Time Flies When You're...

I had no idea that the last post I wrote was in October! Nerdy med student that I am I measure time by rotations, and I've been through an entire Internal Medicine, and half of a Surgery rotation since then.

Oddly though, it's not like much has changed. Life goes on, much the same as it has since this school year began. Get up, go to the hospital, go to school and study, go home and go to bed. Repeat. I suppose I did manage to make it to Whistler this Christmas. Went to Squamish one day to see bald eagles. (There was only one, it seemed lonely. ) Haven't played hockey yet this term due to sucky on-call schedules. (the team is undefeated thus far though, hmm...) Oh, and on the thievery front, yay for insurance cheques FINALLY ARRIVING. (It only took... 3 months. *roll eyes*).

Oh! I have been caught up in a new TV show lately-- Dexter. Forensics expert by day, vigilante serial killer by night. Heh.

posted by allimalia 8:48 PM

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

:(

So I finally have something to update on... sadly. Perhaps I can lead in with my current facebook status... I am "too angry to study (thievery sucks)."

Now that I've come to update, I realise that writing about this is almost like experiencing it all over again which isn't the most fun thing... Suffice it to say that my new purse (which my dad gave me for my birthday very recently) was stolen at work on Monday (first day in a new clinic in the children's hospital). In it... wallet, cell phone, palm pilot, NEW ipod, car keys..

I've never had anything stolen before... I mean, I've lost my wallet or dropped a credit card in a restaurant or something but it was always my own fault. You could argue that this was my own doing too -- shouldn't have left my bag in an unlocked office. You would think tho, that a private office at the back of a clinic where the patients are mostly under 10 would be safe! Not so...

They're just possessions and perhaps they shouldn't matter so much to me -- but it's almost less about the actual items and more about the hassle of this all. Very "ma-fan" indeed! It's provided a fantastic excuse for me not to study -- filing police reports and phoning credit companies to make sure I'm not the victim of fraud and such. Did I mention I have an exam is in 10 days?

Hyperparanoid -- that's how I feel now. I'm doing ridiculous things... such as not wearing a jacket today because I don't feel like there is a safe place to put it... and I plan to carry my school bag with me today into every exam room. So what if patients think I'm crazy. Heh.

posted by allimalia 8:45 AM

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Success!

hurrah -- i have managed to access my own blog and can now continue my travel log.

after numerous (ok 2) lengthy (i.e. 9 hours in total) flight delays i have arrived safe and sound in xian. the apartment we are being housed in are very nice and we even have cleaning ladies -- what luxury.

despite the extremely wet weather we've ventured out and seen some colourful back alleys and eaten some local fare. well, actually we wimped out on street food and are partaking of food court stuff thus far, but, hey, at least we aren't eating mickeyd's or kfc. due to the rain we're gonna hit up a museum today -- shaanxi history museum. perhaps i shall learn something :)

we haven't started volunteering yet but we've been for lunch and toured the clinic. ppl there are very friendly but shy at the same time -- i suppose it's the language thing. it turns out this is training season at the moment, so it's not clear what exactly we will be doing! there no patients in sight while we were there... hmm. i guess we will find out on monday!

posted by allimalia 10:09 PM

Monday, July 16, 2007

Travel Blog, China Here I Come

1:25 am and I am packed and the room is ... mostly clean. What is it about leaving for a trip and feeling that it's so important to leave behind a spotless room? (Okay, so my room isn't spotless but at least it's in better shape right now than it has been for the last two weeks).

Anyway -- travel, right, travel. Off to Beijing tomorrow. Will spend one evening there before I head off for 3 weeks of volunteering in Xian. I wonder if internet censorship is retroactive. Hmm. Anyway, I'll just leave it at this for now. Volunteering in the motherland -- let's hope my mother tongue skills are up to this. Perhaps I can learn to FIFE in Mandarin. (FIFE = the mantra of interviewing that ubc loves to teach -- feelings, ideas, function, expectations).

posted by allimalia 1:24 AM

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Med Nerd

People complain that I don't blog enough but the thing is, I don't want to blog about med stuff too much b/c honestly, it's probably only interesting to me and I don't wanna bore the 3 people that probably still read this blog. BUT that said, today was the cooooooolest med day I've ever had so I have to share.

1. I got to use the paddles today! Shocked someone to try to return their heart rhythm back to normal (from atrial fibrillation).
2. Met a patient with Tourette's syndrome -- has all the stereotypical features including uncontrolled swearing (nerd word of the day = coprolalia)
3. Saw my first delivery!!!! Pretty cute baby too!
4. Ok this isn't "happy" but interesting... a previously completely healthy patient came into emerg 'just' with nausea and vomiting and when I looked at the results and took the history and physical exam, I thot that something must be pretty wrong (okay, I'm an alarmist and I was so sure the patient had some kind of renal cancer or something). It turns out that most likely the patient has polycystic kidney disease.

posted by allimalia 7:23 PM

Thursday, June 07, 2007

Summer!

Since I've been linked by the Hankmeister I thought maybe I'd do an update.

Updates: Ran the 1/2 and survived -- 2hours19. Decent for me, probably not great by other standards but dat's ok. My sis ran the full in .. wait for it .. 3:49! (9 minutes off a Boston qualifying time, not bad for first marathon hey?).

Finished exams -- survived. (Hmm, I see a theme here, maybe I ought to take more joy in my accomplishments, haha.)

So now I've been on vacation for 13 glorious days. Lots and lots of sleep, some cleaning, too much eating and next on the plate is bridesmaiding (i made up that word) on Saturday. Sunday has me off to my rural adventure: one month in Grand Forks doing a placement with a family doc. Hopefully I get to do some fun stuff (fun = med nerdiness). 10 days after I get back I'm off to China! Woohoo!

That's it for now! Back to more lounging...

posted by allimalia 4:35 PM

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Countdown to Summer

4 exams done, 7 to go!

8 days till freedom! (and the United Concert :D).

posted by allimalia 3:39 PM

Monday, May 07, 2007

- no title -

I say 21 km in 2:19:52.

My quads say ow.

My brain says it doesn't want to study for exams.

posted by allimalia 2:34 PM

Saturday, April 07, 2007

Random Procrastination

posted by allimalia 2:38 PM

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Something That Made Me Go Hmmm....

I just realised the slight ... contradiction in the following:

So earlier tonite I was studying at school and because I was too lazy to walk downstairs and next door to the hospital and upstairs to the cafeteria to microwave my dinner, I ate some cookies and waited till I came home to eat my dinner (at... oh.. 11pm?).

However... I have recently been inspired to run a half-marathon and thus have been running (pretty consistently) about 3 times a week since school started in January.

Hmmm....

posted by allimalia 11:48 PM

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Reading ~~Week~~ Break

In an attempt to dispel the notion that my posts are getting weirder and weirder (according to jchik) I shall attempt to write a "normal" post... what to write about... what to write about...

Well, this Friday and Monday I have a holiday! Woot woot. What am I going to do with this 4-day weekend? I think I'm going to try and go to Whistler. There's also the slightly nagging matter of catching up on school work (as per usual). It's been a long block but we're actually near the end of our studies on the brain. The brain is cool -- I can say that now b/c exams are still more than 3 months away. Probably in April I'll think the brain is evil.

What else -- so what's everyone up to this summer? I think this might be a dream but my ideal summer is going to be: rural practice elective, write USMLE, visit London, go to Xian for missions, travel in China, get home in time such that I won't be a zombie when 3rd year starts. Hmm... (Funds to support these ventures are pending).

Jasper -- was that normal enough?

posted by allimalia 4:48 PM

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Nerd Word

"hemiasomoatognosia: in which patients deny that the left half of their body belongs to them. A patient may become distressed because 'someone left an arm in my bed'" (source: my textbook)

posted by allimalia 9:44 PM

Sunday, December 24, 2006

Merry Christmas!

posted by allimalia 5:40 PM

Friday, December 15, 2006

Full

As a friend of mine says: this sponge is FULL!

If the brain is like a sponge and we only use 10% of it (which, by the way, isn't true, it's just a myth) -- my 10% of my sponge is way beyond full. It's so full stuff is leaking away to make room for more stuff. Why can't the stuff I forget be all the crappy TV I watch? Nooo, instead I forget the list that I memorised an day ago, the lecture I read this morning... Sigh.

Ahem. My facebook status (by the way - facebook is bad news during exam time) says that I'm attempting not to whine about studying. Evidently, I am unsuccessful.

5 days till vay-cay-shun. :D

posted by allimalia 5:24 PM

Saturday, November 04, 2006

Oh I Wish I Were...

not an Oscar Meyer wiener, I merely wish to be "intense. relentless." According to urbandictionary.com harcore means intense. relentless.

November is here. When did November get here?! I am attempting to recover from the stupor induced upon by the shock of realising that November has some how sneaked up on me. (Doesn't snuck just sound so much better than sneaked? However, Firefox informs me that snuck is not a real word. This is also shocking news.)

Enough blogging. Back to the intense. relentness. hardcore.

HC to hc :D

Nerdy fact of the day: Etidronate can be used to treat osteoporosis.

posted by allimalia 7:02 PM

Sunday, October 22, 2006

PIM

I am my team's leader in penalty minutes. Hehe.

In other news, I have decided to activate blogger comments, however, they don't appear to be working.

posted by allimalia 9:30 PM

Sunday, October 15, 2006

I Have Awesome Friends :D

Clicky here to see just how awesome

In other news since I last posted I have been to Saskatoon for a hockey tournament and Montreal for a wedding.

No more travelling for a while. Alli is poor, Alli is way too poor to go to Urbana :(.

posted by allimalia 10:57 PM

Saturday, September 09, 2006

Small Group, or something like it...

Small group began yesterday. I'm not sure that I really fit into this group but they're a really nice bunch of women and maybe I can learn something from them. I'm the baby of the group - a nice change from school where I am often reminded (through no one's fault but my own) of the fact that I'm just a wee bit older than the average. [Admittedly I don't ACT older but that's a whole other matter.] (Incidentally by baby I mean, younger by 10 years :p). {Ok I just wanted to include one more kind of bracket here... or is parentheses...}

The group is going to be studying "The Safest Place on Earth" by Larry Crabb. According to amazon.ca this is what the book is about...

In today's frenetic society, people rarely develop intimate friendships. Instead, they spend their lives essentially disconnected from others, rushing through life content with brief visits and casual conversations. But what if one were to develop a community, a spiritual community, of people who walked with and supported each other through life's journey? A community of real friends who listened to each other's personal tragedies without merely trying to fix the problems, who encouraged and nurtured each others strengths, and who accepted people for who they really are, instead of the image they try to portray. In The Safest Place on Earth, Larry Crabb explores such a place, where God can heal disconnected people and allow them to reconnect with each other and, ultimately, with Him.

To be honest I don't even know what I'm looking for with this group, it's more a sense of knowing that I am definitely not where God wants me to be at this point in my life. I'm reminded that even though God loves me just as I am that doens't mean He's content to leave me here. Annnnyway, this is WAY more personal or serious than anything I've written on this blog for a very long time and I've never been a big fan of putting these thoughts out THERE. .

posted by allimalia 11:47 AM

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Border Crossings, aka Interrogation Central

Am currently on a bit of a whirlwhind trip thru a few cities in the Eastern bits of Canada. I hesitate to say "coast" b/c I'm not in the Maritimes :)

Last Sunday (that was mere days after the UK gel/liquid incident) I drove to NYC with some friends. The border line was long (to put it mildly) and when we finally (after at least two hours) got to the head of the line the customs officer (while not rude) was certainly... very customs officer-like. How better to describe that I know not.

CO (customs officer): Sir, have you ever had any problems crossing the border?
JH: Nooo...
CO: Let me ask you that one more time sir, have you ever had any PROBLEMS crossing the BORDER?
JH: Um... it depends on how you define problem?...
CO: Why don't you tell me what happened and I'll decide?
...

The upshot is that we had to go into that special room where they send ur passports (I think there's a magical chute between the little booths and THE ROOM). As my friend pointed out, if it wasn't racial profiling, we didn't know what to call it. There were about 20 ppl waiting, 1 caucasian person. Everyone else basically looked Hispanic or Middle Eastern...

posted by allimalia 9:54 AM

Monday, July 24, 2006

Summer Job (aka Travelling Alli)
A little more than halfway through my term as a summer intern at the BC Medical Association. Amidst lunches out and political scandal galore I've managed to get sent on two business trips: Trail, BC and Seattle WA. Trail was... less than scintillating. The attractivenss of Trail is demonstrated by the flight schedule of my boss - meeting done at 11am, flight out at 1pm. (Note that they left me behind for one more day to interview people...lucky me ;)).

Photo: L to R (top, middle, bottom)
Border crossing, Space Needle, Border crossing
Homemade baileys at Cafe Kas, Teck Cominco smelter, cheap meters!
Trail airport interior, signage, leetle plane

posted by allimalia 6:24 PM

Team Boxer's Etc

Here we are before running 10K. Managed to raise 500 bucks for cancers below the waist. Hehe. Many thanks to those who supported!! Once again, was quite foolish and did not train much (i.e. had run once since the 10K Sun Run since April). Managed to run the whole way at a sedate pace (i.e. very slowly), slower than the Sun Run at 1 hour 12 minutes BUT.... saw a high school friend whose boyfriend ran and apparently his team was QUITE sure that the run was 10.4K, not 10. How they know this, I do not know. But I'll buy that :)

posted by allimalia 6:04 PM

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Smart Sheep :D

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_west/5048644.stm

posted by allimalia 3:02 PM

Sunday, June 04, 2006

You Know You Must Have Been Studying Hard...

when it takes EIGHT hours before you notice that for some reason your Ipod has been playing the same two songs all day.

posted by allimalia 10:54 PM

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Insanity - thy synonym is exams

Studying last night with a classmate (well, a dental classmate) and he put his head down and I smiled and said "Naptime?"

Eyes still closed, he replies "I'm hoping you'll go crazy and kill me."

posted by allimalia 3:08 PM

Monday, May 08, 2006

Numbers

school
23: days till exams begin
20: weeks of core course material to cover
5: other subjects which i should also be studying
25.5: hours spent at school this weekend
2.5: weeks i managed to cover this weekend :(
10: exams
31: days till exams are done! :D

miscellaneous
34: dollars i spent on a snazzy new mouse from staples for my laptop
28: dollars - how much my mouse costs at best buy :(
7: dollars - i plan to get back by price matching :)

0: minutes i should be spending on my blog

posted by allimalia 1:40 PM

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Just Call Me Alvin

At the moment I feel a bit like a chipmunk, a dumb one though, b/c I only appear to have stored nuts in one cheek.

Goodbye wisdom tooth (impacted 38 for you dentists out there, actually I don't know any dentists that read this blog..)

posted by allimalia 2:14 PM

Sunday, April 23, 2006

What Happens In Las Vegas...

I heard that what happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas. So I guess I can't tell you guys what I do there -- when I go on my trip with the free plane tickets I won tonight!

:D

posted by allimalia 12:16 AM

Friday, April 21, 2006

Wheels Up

So sis is most likely gonna be getting this car (sportswagon). And nope - we DEFINITELY didn't buy from those silly salepeople.

:p

posted by allimalia 11:40 AM

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Car Shopping

Went car shopping with my dad and sis yesterday (for my sis - not me, boohoo). In the process I believe I stumbled upon the 'thing-which-you-as-a-car-salesman-must-not-do-if-you-wish-to-sell-a-car'.

So there we are, sis is test driving, salesman in the front seat and he knows my dad wants to also test drive so salesman says "why don't you pull over and we'll let your husband drive now?". i chuckle and he says "oh? he's not your husband?". haha. must have been the granny raincoat sis borrowed from mom :p

Ah, but that's not all. Now we go to another dealership, dad has been before but he wants sis to test drive this one as well. We're all outside checking out the car and the salesman asks me some questions and I saw "oh it's not for me, it's for her" (point to sis). And the salesman says "Oh, but sir, I thought you wanted the car for your daughter". me: "WAHAHAHA. TWICE in one day." Must have been the granny raincoat... :p

posted by allimalia 9:50 AM

Friday, March 31, 2006

Things that make you go "OOOOH, I wanna buy that!"

clicky

posted by allimalia 9:38 PM

Saturday, March 11, 2006

Med-Ball

Dressing up sometimes equals fun times. Clicky.

posted by allimalia 11:37 PM

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Quotable Quote

"Thanks for the restaurant recommendation! It was so good I almost vomited!"
- satisfied customer at Stepho's Greek Restaurant

posted by allimalia 8:06 AM

Sunday, February 19, 2006

If You Could Only Imagine...

a kitchen cold enough that three green bananas never ripen.

posted by allimalia 9:02 PM

Thursday, February 09, 2006

Everyday You Learn Something New

Went to an event last night held at a Chinese restaurant... questionable area of town... questionable food (ix-nay on the inese-chay uffet-bays). The fortune cookies were good tho! And... I learned something new. Did you know that adding the words "in bed" to the end of any fortune you receive makes it infinitely funnier and it always (or so I'm told) makes sense?

Sometimes it's good: "Your luck will be good today in bed"

Sometimes it's ... debatable: "You will master any feeling of inadequacy you may be having in bed".

Hehehe. Needless to say we had a good laugh at our table. (Actually it was less laughing and more suppressed giggling while trying to maintain the image that we were paying attention to the guest speakers.)

I never said that what you learn everyday is necessarily useful... :P

posted by allimalia 3:43 PM

Sunday, January 29, 2006

Advice for the Technologically Challenged

1. When attempting to download pictures from digital camera, one may need a cable.

2. When searching for what to plug in where it is often helpful NOT to sit on one end of aforementioned cable.

posted by allimalia 9:36 PM

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Tag, You're It!

Thanks to danprime for being the instigating factor in me writing a blog.

Five random things about me that other people might not know:

1. It takes being hit in the mouth by a frisbee for me to ask for my sister on the school playground. (age 6?)

2. I was once locked out of my house and was impressed with my own ingenuity when I managed to get in through a basement window. Too bad I broke the window lock in the process. (age 13?)

3. When I was living in Japan I perfected the art of riding a bicycle, holding an umbrella and sending text messages on my cell phone -- simultaneously. (I only crashed once).

4. I realise that I'm an open book because it has taken me a month to think of three things that people may or may not know about me!

5. I am also the world's biggest procrastinator - oh wait, you all knew that!

posted by allimalia 2:36 PM

Friday, December 09, 2005

Merry Christmas from MD-08 to MD-09

The Twelve Days of Christmas

On the first day of classes,
Med/Dent gave to me:

An ego and a buddy.
2 Bags of Bones
3 thousand handouts
400 web evaluations
5 Golden Pucks
6 Million emails
7 Smelly Lab partners
8 Hours of DPAS (Doctor Patient and Society)
9 Hundred cytokines
10 Coloured Pencils
11 Required textbooks

On the 12th day of classes,
Med/Dent TOOK from me:

14 thousand dollars,
Any Dental relevance,
All friends and family,
Fear of the 2nd years on ice,
8 hours a night,
some faith in healthcare,
Any personal hygeine,
20/20 vision,
4 weeks of summer,
3 meals a day,
time to shop for Christmas,
And my last sense of sanity.

posted by allimalia 6:40 PM

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Exams

are scary.

posted by allimalia 12:34 AM

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Vote for Notesaic!

Help Danprime (not Also Dan) with the MSN App contest! Click here to try it out and vote (launching counts as a vote.)

posted by allimalia 7:10 AM

Friday, September 30, 2005

Med School = Hockey

Whoever said that med school would be really busy was right - but is it because of the studying? Nope - it's HOCKEY.

My team is called the FemmeDocs and I think we're getting pink jerseys - how sweet it that??!

Twas fun seeing some of you last weekend in good'ol E-town. The bus ride there wasn't too much fun though:

- left an hour late, at 7pm
- drove two hours, took a one hour break! (in chilliwack, with our sketchy bus driver who i strongly believe had mafia connections! i think he implied that he wanted to shoot up Timmy's b/c they wouldn't sell him 36 donuts!)
- drove to Kamloops and waited half an hour for the drivers to switch
- sped up and arrived in Hinton at 7am
- bus broke down
- waited two hours for the mechanic to come
- mechanic was too big to fit in to the space to fix the problem
- mechanic calls skinny mechanic
- more waiting
- more waiting
- eating
- more waiting
- eating
- after a five hour delay (six if you count the time change) FINALLY WE LEAVE HINTON
- stop at WEM to drop off shoppers
- check into hotel at 4:45PM...

flashbacks to panorama ski trip, i seem to recall that i swore i'd never go on another bus trip. hmm..

Game Stats for IceBowl 2005. Lost to U of S and U of C, beat U of A! Woohoo! Not bad for a joint team b/c UBC and U of M who'd never met until the game, and half of us had never played before!

FemmeDocs: 1-9 against Buns of Stihl from Forestry. I think we did pretty well considering they're supposedly the best team in the league! Even dragged our resident Czech visitor to the game to be a cheering fan:) Guess our hockey doesn't quite compare to the Czech's tho!

In other news: I WILL be studying. Uh Huh. Emphatic Nod. STUDYING.

posted by allimalia 9:40 AM

Friday, September 16, 2005

Skool

Perhaps not the most exciting of subjects but I must say that that is where the bulk of my time is going these days. To answer the question: I like it and it's going well :) And yes, I am a nerd! My favourite subject? Gross anatomy. Not like, ew gross, but like big gross, as opposed to microanatomy ;) So the first day of lab I was REALLY tempted to say "I see dead people". But my filter was on - PHEW. (Wouldn't that be embarassing - kicked out of anatomy on the first day?).

Checked out CMDS (Christian Medical and Dental Society) yesterday. It was a giant salmon bbq at a Vancouver home. The hosts are doctors who have been hosting CMDS EVERY week in their home for the past ELEVEN years. Talk about hospitality!

OOOH - in other news, I shall be in Edmonton Sept 23 - 25 for Icebowl (refer to http://www.uofameds.ca/) for more info. Come out and see me attempt to play hockey and fall on my butt. If you come you must cheer for UBC :D Hehehe. ASKies - come on out!! (erm i think the games are in sherwood park tho.. sollee :p).

posted by allimalia 9:22 AM

Monday, September 05, 2005

Brothel != Bethel

Twas an interesting weekend at Camp Artaban on Gambier Island. The pit toilets were stinky, the food was very thumbs down and it rained. However - I still had fun :D. I STILL didn't meet some people but that's ok. I guess it'll happen when it happens.

I hiked (more like a gentle stroll), I canoed - thank goodness for canoeing partners who can steer, boo to boys who like to chase other boats down and engage in splashing contests :p, I team-built and I took photos of a drunken keg party - ah, the future of health care.

As for cabin assignments I was in Bethel 13. I think the count was 2 for the number of times I heard it referred to as Brothel.

As we were leaving a wedding party was arriving. Apparently the couple met at camp - everybody together now, awwwwwww. Some of us had visions of a non-catered wedding where the guests would be dining on our leftoevers. Mini-triangles of French toast, which was very much toast and not very French. Small squares of grilled cheese sandwiches - nicely cooled to room temperature after two days. Bland clumpy noodles for the main course. We all breathed a sigh of relief when we watched them disembark with their obviously catered dishes.

For photos, check out: http://med09.fotopic.net/c678854.html.

posted by allimalia 7:08 AM

Friday, September 02, 2005

K-AMP

Off to camp in a few hours - it won't be the same as ASK Kamp of course but I'm looking forward to meeting more people. How is it that I've introduced myself umpteen times but still manage to not know anyone in my cabin?

I never realised how hard it was to meet 224 people in 4.5 days :p (I guess it's 264 with the dent student too.)

posted by allimalia 12:44 PM

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Scavenger-what?

Task: Spin 10 times around a badminton racket, run with said racket to cup and dip toothbrush (tied to end of racket) into cup. Run back.

Alli: Spin 10 times around a badminton racket, stand up. Run into tree.

posted by allimalia 10:30 PM

Saturday, August 27, 2005

Six Words Have I For You

Brothers

Grimm

Do

NOT

Watch

It

Edit

Okay - here's a review I found which I feel summarises the situation perfectly. "A third class theme park ride. Much too dark for children. Too familiar for adults. And too lame for either."

posted by allimalia 2:16 AM

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Projects?

In the face of other more motivated folks I've decided that I too need some projects to work on. See the thing is though, I've never been the overly motivated type. Really, I'm all talk.

And when I say projects, I don't mean self-improvement. (I'm really much too lazy for that).

No, by projects I mean... oh.. clean my room? unpack? pack my pencil case?

Let's see here, today I started work on something I've been promising my mother I'd do for years. I've got this gigantic stack of t-shirts. I'm a pack rat. Ok, I'm worse than a pack rat. These t-shirts are mostly FREE, yet I still can't bear to throw them away. From high school walkathons to NYC souvenir shirts I love them ALL. Yet... I won't wear them. SO, the project. I've cut out the pertinents bits and I'm atttempting to stitch them together. A quilt? I dunno, maybe. For now, it's good enuf that a) lots of rag with which to clean bathroom and b) i don't need to reserve precious drawer space to stack said t-shirts.

In other projects... hmm... figure out what to do with my meager savings. Investment tips anyone?

Paint a matching picture for my bathroom :D

And yup, that would be about it.

See? I'm not very ambitious.

posted by allimalia 10:56 PM

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

L & G VIP, That's Me!

On the 24th hour of my return to Lotusland (or perhaps it was the 23rd hour), I made the all important bubble tea run. Well, it was less of a run, and more of a stroll from dinner around the corner. This was the first time I'd ever brought my mom and grandma to any sort of a bubble tea establishment (other than you know those food courts one, which don't really count ;)). When my mom started chatting up the owners and they started making ridiculous statements (like thinking my 88 year old grandma was my mother's sister!), I pretty much decided it was also going to be last time we went there as a group.

My mom can't resist getting a deal (not to mention she was still smarting from the fact that they laughed when my mom said she was 42 :p) so as we left she turned and said "Next time my daugher comes in, you be sure and give her a free bubble tea!". We then sauntered out (ok, I was trying to make a quick yet still graceful exit). My mom though turned back and opened the door again "What did you say you'd give me?". "A VIP card" said the owner, reaching behind the counter. My mom almost turned him down, not knowing the value of this all important and slightly elusive VIP card. "Get it" I whispered, "It's really good!". (Hello 3 dollar instead of 3.75 bubble tea, goodbye the need to get 5 filled stamp cards in order to become a VIP).

I guess it won't be the last time I take my mom to bubble tea. ;)

posted by allimalia 9:23 PM

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

So Long, Farewell, Aufwiedersen, Adieu!

a german meal, some chocolate cake and an evening of memorable tv = my goodbye to home for the last two years.

great quotes from the evening:

"It is possible to make no mistake and still lose. That is life."

"I need to see my father. NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW!"
"Daaaad!"
"He's my number one dad!"

"I busted him up."

posted by allimalia 8:49 AM

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

StrongBad!

Look everyone! I made it into a Strongbad email. Thanks to kimothy for the link :D.

posted by allimalia 11:05 PM

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

Weekend 'o Fun

twas a busy one: clicky for pics, and clicky for a post which sums it up.

who? me? lazy?

posted by allimalia 1:03 AM

Sunday, July 24, 2005

VancouverFood.Stats, Mine Name is Gluttony

Bubbleteas: 6
Free Bubbleteas Redeemed: 1
Bubbleteas Remaining Till the Free One: 5 at L&G, 5 at Dragonball
All-You-Can-Eat Sushi: twice
Cheap/Free Asian Eats: four times (including home prepped meals courtesy of coko's mommy and stephangelic's mommy)
Other Asian Eats: twice
Gelato: twice (flavours sampled, upwards of 8 ;)
Free Eats from the 'rents: three (yes, overlaps with cheap/free asian eats)
Other Equally Yummy Deals of Meals: 3
Different Bubbletea Flavours Enjoyed: 5
Bubbletea Locales: 3 (Kudos to Dragonball and L&G)
Japanese Restaurants: 4
Days = 7
Pounds Gained = nada! woohoo :p

posted by allimalia 11:24 PM

Thursday, July 21, 2005

Home Sweet Home

A lot of people have been asking me if I'm excited about moving back to Vancouver. I had some difficulty answering that question but this past week of vacation - aka Festival of Non-Stop Eats - has reminded me of some nice things I've missed in the 604.

Wait. That came out a bit wrong. I don't mean to say that I'm excited to move back so I can eat like a glutton and suffer the consequences. No, while the goodness that are the pearls at Dragonball are almost enough to bring me back, it's the stuff like the gorgeous mountain views that beckon you at the foot of so many Vancouver streets that I've really loved seeing this week. I sincerely apologise to the sister for pooh-poohing her when she said she missed the mountains. Mountains: I love you :D

p.s. for photos of the adventures of kuma, clicky here and here.

posted by allimalia 6:42 AM

Friday, July 15, 2005

Dosapallooza

After much talk, much hype from Limey and overall a mounting sense of excitement we finally hit Edmonton's only source of dosa. While the dish itself was tasty it didnt' really live up to it's expectations, perhaps b/c it looked nothing like the photo I'd seen and was individualised, eliminating the fun of tearing off dosabits from a communal dosa.

Savoy's Cafe (near Southgate) is also... a bit strange. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I certainly hadn't realised that a restaurant serving dosa would also be well known for it's healthy juices... The prices for the food were really reasonable... 4.99 for a serving of dosa, with chutney and lentil soup. I quickly realised however that they really wanted us to order a drink to make up for this. The back of the menu along with the specials board on the wall noted two particular categories of drinks, body cleansers and energizers. They came in such lovely flavours as apple, carrot, ginger, beets etc. Each fruit or vegetable was linked to descriptions like "indigestion" or "circulation". After comtemplating the menu and the mini-specials board (which touted the same things) I decided to stick with water. However R was more adventurous and after reading the gigantic board of ingredients he opted for the spinach juice. "Sorry we don't have those" came the quick reply, we just have these two - points to menu.

That's when I realised that you couldn't just have plain carrot, or plain whatever juice. They came together, no choices, no substitutions, just all in a lovely melange. Still, R bravely ordered the body cleanser.

It didn't taste good. (I opted not to taste it, but took this on faith after seeing Juicy D's expression upon sampling the bright orange mixture). No pics of her expression but think of something like this:

posted by allimalia 10:43 AM

Saturday, July 09, 2005

Can I have some more bitters please? (clicky)

posted by allimalia 9:05 PM

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Pysanka!

While this word may sound to you like one of a disreputable nature - it actually is a word steeped in deep meaning . That is if you are a) Ukranian or b) from Vegreville.

It is true that I am neither of these, however, I have (in recent times - read: yesterday) come to regard this word with some fondness. What does this mean? It means that I, along with some dear friends from the City of Champions, are planning a day trip to the fun-filled city of Vegreville, home to the world's largest pysanka. We shall be there in time for the annual pysanka festival! Anyone care to join us?

Photos to follow.

posted by allimalia 9:09 PM

Oh my grandpa, how I love thee :D

Contrary to what limey may say I don't have any living grandpas - unless you think stuffed animals are alive.

Grandpa

Not Grandpa

posted by allimalia 7:21 AM

Saturday, June 11, 2005

goodbye saint john ?

I made a rushed attempt at this post while I was still in Saint John, but it turns out that while I may work well under pressure, the same does not extend to my blogging. I had glorious plans for the amusement value of this blog, but alas, upon reflection I find that a seven hour delay in a very small, rather (okay, absolutely) dull aiport does not good blogging material make.

Suffice it to say that arriving at 11:15 am for a 12:05pm flight turned into fog delays, mechanical problems and further fog delays. Final departure time? 7 pm. Amidst three re-bookings of my connecting flight from Toronto to Edmonton, limited food choices in the wee cafe and a lounge full of health care executives attempting to imbibe themselves out of boredom, perhaps the most exciting (read: frustrating) moment was when, after 7.5 long hours of boredom I found out that Saint John airport (while lacking pretty much anything in the way of entertainment or amenities) has free wireless internet access! Yes, this I discovered approximately 15 minutes before my flight finally left.

Hey, at least I wasn`t on the flight from Toronto that couldn`t land in Saint John or Moncton due to fog and then turned around and returned to Toronto.

posted by allimalia 10:12 PM

Musical Batons

Ang passed the baton to me so here goes - I`m afraid my answers are going to be quite dull :p

Total volume of music files on my computer: Um... zero. I technically own a couple songs from puretracks but I haven`t re-downloaded them since I formatted my computer.

Last CD I bought was: Hmm...I think it was the Ray Charles duet CD - very good!

Song playing right now: Nuttin - just got home and it isn`t really my habit to play music off my computer, unless I`m studying and procrastinating ;)

Five songs that I listen to a lot or mean a lot to me: I think I`ll try and go for five favourites, I usually listen to the radio :p These will be my five oldie favourites! (as in, i`ve liked them for quite a while OR quite a while ago ;)) - in no particular order -

25 Minutes Too Late by Michael Learns to Rock (ah - the cheese, it`s always gotta come in somewhere, why not right at the beginning!)

Reunited by Peaches and Herb (this was the hit song in May 1979 and was performed at my friend`s debutante back in the day - it became a karaoke classic for me and my high school buddies)

Heaven is a Place on Earth by Belinda Carlisle (another karaoke classic, but this time with my girlfriend`s in Tokyo!)

Cocomo by Beach Boys (don`t know why or when really, but used to really love this one, i think i first heard it off my parent`s records!)

Weak by SWV (a capella version) (have a friend who includes this on every mix they make!)

posted by allimalia 9:47 PM

Monday, June 06, 2005

breathe - just, breathe

oh my gosh. i hate public speaking.

last night at dinner they say "make a little speech, it's practice for tomorrow". inside alli's head "OH CRAP i forgot about that damn speech". outside "SMILE AND NOD". i hate public speaking.

stayed up till 2am writing the speech, got to the conference a bit late and heard from a fellow recipient that we've got to give this speech in front of ALL THE CONFERENCE DELEGATES (= ~ 600 people) and they've got these enormous screens at the front of the room, what's going to be on them? our pictures. OH GREAT. i can't even remember what embarassing photo i sent them. i hate public speaking.

one hour til death. crap and i'm first, curse living in the west.

did i mention i hate public speaking?

posted by allimalia 6:56 AM

Sunday, June 05, 2005

l-u-x-u-r-y

fancy hotel :)

wireless internet!

and i gots a basket in my room, i've never received a fruit basket before - i feel very pampered.

:D

posted by allimalia 8:49 AM

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

How Not to Get a Rental

Went apartment hunting today for the sister (I am abandoning her and there's no sense in staying in a pricey 2 bedroom apartment all by her lonesome.) Talked to possibly the rudest and dumbest landlord ever.. Folks, if you ever chance to run a building, this is NOT the way to do business.

Hi, I'm calling for some rental information
No vacancies
Oh, that's ok, I'm looking for later and I just wanted some prices for now
NO VACANCIES
But...
CLICK
Hello???

posted by allimalia 11:01 PM

Monday, May 23, 2005

How Nerdy Am I?

Hehe. These questions cracked me up - which, I feel, suggests I am basically already nerdy.

posted by allimalia 10:50 PM

Monday, May 16, 2005

oh...the confusion

God's will - God's blessings?

what do you do when everything you've ever wanted is right there in your grasp but you have an inkling He's got other plans? plans that might (ok, ARE) better for you, but the world is just a callin' and the parents are just a pointin'...

posted by allimalia 8:02 PM

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

it's partee time!

i am done!!

in other news - went to see morgan spurlock speak tonight at the u of a revolutionary speaker series tonite. man on man - is that guy every funny!!! he had the audience cracking up for a good two and a half hours!

did you know that mcdonalds gobal nutrition expert is proud to announce that their customors make smart choices? her evidence? why -- mcdonalds customers ordered 150 million salads in a year! that's a lotta salad huh? guess what tho, mcdonalds serves 46 million customers EVERY DAY. 46 million time 365 days. (scuse me while i do some math...) = 16,790,000,000. SEVENTEEN BILLION customers a year.. and 150 million salads. still impressed?

yeah - didn't think so.

anyway -- i do him no justice here but he was incredibly funny - like, i could be a stand-up comedian funny. whaddya know - he did standup before film!

'member the vegan girlfriend in the movie? she's gotta book coming out -- the all american detox diet or something like that.

it's all about the links in this blog hey? happy clicking.

posted by allimalia 10:39 PM

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

You Know It's End of Semester When...

I gues you can tell by the frequency of my blogs that there's definitely work to be done. On the slate for today is a 20 minute powerpoint presentation. It really shouldn't be too difficult since I have a 25 page paper to base it on... I guess it's thoughts like those that have me surfing the net and picking new tv shows to download. Hehe.

Tomorrow is the day -- last day of graduate studies! Not to get all sentinmental or maudlin or.. whatever, but honestly, I can't believe I've been in Edmonton for two years already. The time has totally flown by... I have to admit that when I left Montreal I never expected to build up a whole new community of friends and family. I'm sure I drive/drove people nuts with my constant reminsicing about how wonderful Montreal is.

Guess I'll soon be driving people nuts about how great Edmonton is too :D

posted by allimalia 9:46 AM

Monday, April 18, 2005

I Win!

Nevermind the fact that there is no one to compete against...

I thought it was going to take till the wee hours of the morning but I'm happy to report that I get to go to bed before the sun rises b/c my oh-so-fascinating (read: terrible) paper is DONE! Did I just spend 15 minutes reformatting my paper to see what it would look like as a journal article?! *embarassed smiley here*.

T-2 !!!!!!

posted by allimalia 2:53 AM

Monday, April 11, 2005

It's Getting Light Outside...

I've been ineffective all weekend in doing my work. Don't get me wrong, I was good and stayed home and such -- but in all honesty I was probably the slowest essay writer this side of the planet - heck probably both sides of the planet. I'm happy to say I finally hit my groove, unfortunately it just had to be about 2 in the morning.

So now it's getting light out and I'm still writing. I'm totally screwed for the day now... If I go to sleep now I doubt I'll get enough sleep to be able to write effectively tomorrow.. errr.. tonight. So I guess I'll just keep writing.

T-9 till M.A. haha.. I mean.. MPH and then u call me MA. Ahhh.. you know what I mean right? (Boy, I hope the paper I'm writing is more coherent than this blog :|)

:P

posted by allimalia 5:19 AM

Saturday, April 09, 2005

T-11 Days Till I...

am unofficially the (undeserving) bearer of a Master's degree. That's right - you can just all start calling me Master Alli. mwahahaha.

Currently writing:
Capital Health/Regional Medical Staff Societies Physician Quality of Worklife Study:

An Examination of Younger Female Physicians and the Factors Which Distinguish Them in the Areas of Job Satisfaction, Stress and Workload Efficacy
Pages: 13 / 25.

(FYI: Law paper final results --> pages = 20.1, footnotes = 91).

The next few days aren't gonna be so fun.

Why oh why do I procrastinate so?

posted by allimalia 1:49 AM

Saturday, April 02, 2005

New Addiction Discovered While Writing Law Paper

Pop'n Drop

Currently Writing: "The Duty to Disclose Medical Mistakes"
Pages: 5 (max 20)
Footnotes: 33 and counting

posted by allimalia 5:14 PM

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Vive Le Montreal

FYI: Montreal is good for so many things: Place Milton, Amazona's, Keung Kee, Cafe L'Etranger, St. Viateur's, Rockaberry's....

Hi. My name is Alli and I'm addicted to restaurants in Montreal.

What can I say? It was a great trip - the weather left a little something to be desired, but it was definitely worth it. Favourite moment: sitting in Keung Kee at midnight, back with the old crew. You know you're getting old when you run out of gossip about your own age group and are forced to marvel over the dating dramas of the teens in the church. Hehe. Saddest moment: realising that the majority of the gang sitting at Keung Kee no longer lives in Montreal.

Montreal - can I come back?

posted by allimalia 11:48 PM

Tuesday, February 08, 2005

Top Ten Things You Don't Want to Hear on Ski Trip (aka, My Weekend Trip to Panorama)

10. "I forgot my jacket!"
9. "Because of the weather, we might arrive a little late, 2/3am instead of midnight" (tour guide at the beginning of the trip)
8. "We're just going to pull over for a few minutes and check something out with the bus."
7. "A mechanic is coming to check out the bus, he'll be here in 40 minutes."
6. "The mechanic says he can't fix the bus here, and it'll have to go back to Red Deer to be fixed. You guys can wait here in Innisfail."
5. "I can't get a hold of the bus driver, but I'm sure he's on his way back to Innisfail."
4. "I think we'll get there around 6 or 7am."
3. "Hmm... well, your front wheel is about an inch from the ditch" (tour guide to bus driver, as bus driver attempts to manoeuver bus up snowy hill)
2."I have zero control right now! ZERO!" (bus driver as the bus slides backwards down a hill)
1. "It's 7:45am and we've arrived!" (okay, this I did want to hear... but I wished it wasn't 7:45am!)

posted by allimalia 10:29 AM

Tuesday, February 01, 2005

The Fiefdom of Hitsuji

My little fiefdom may have some problems with the economy, but hey, at least we've got civil rights, political freedoms and a rockin' flag!

Come play NationStates!

posted by allimalia 10:11 AM

Thursday, January 20, 2005

Is it paranoia? or is it friendship?

Folks, this one's hot off the press. Not five minutes ago my sister and I finished watching ER (we taped it earlier tonite) and my sister's MSN beckons. When she said "It's coko!" my immediate response was "Why did she write you and not me? *SOB SOB*"

My oh so reasonable feelings of insecurity were quickly assuaged when I realised my sister wrote her first :)

I quickly relayed these fascinating facts to coko to which she replied "wow that's paranoid weird. man." To which I replied "that's how important you are to me coko!"

To which she replied "YEAH! You should repeat that and post it."

posted by allimalia 10:22 PM

Tuesday, December 21, 2004

Turduckey Maki with Chicken

Yes, that's right folks! Not even half a year later and we have MORE TURDUCKEN! However, this time, it wasn't JUST turducken... it was going to be turduckey! (i.e. turducken minus the -en or the chicken). However, thanks to the donation of hobbes we were able to include chicken!

But --- it's not just any old turducken. It was turducken in a ROLL formation... hence the maki.

For photos please go to: http://alli-in-edmonton.fotopic.net/c374149.html

:)

posted by allimalia 1:00 PM

Friday, December 03, 2004

I am sitting on a yoga ball. (see item 10). It is somewhat like a chair.

posted by allimalia 1:50 PM

Wednesday, December 01, 2004

Oh What a Sunday

Despite a bout with some sort of mysterious illness Coko decides to forge ahead with her plans for a lovely dinner birthday soiree. I (being the kind, generous soul that I am -- okay, in reality I just like to have ppl come over) offer up my humble abode for the partay.

3:00 pm : Mass cleaning episode where people who are not even attending the party are forced to vacuum my apartment / Preparation begins for the making of an apple-butternet squash casserole.
3:30pm : E calls and asks 'Who's making the roast?' 'Uhhhh, you are' I tell E. E decides to call Coko.
4 pm : I run down to Save-on-Foods (yes, I literally ran) to pick up my newly acquired squash. Did you know that Mr. Lunt (cf. Veggie Tales) is a butternut squash?!
4:30pm : I am about to put the casserole (which my lovely sister has prepared) in the oven when my phone rings. It is Coko asking if she can come cook a roast in my oven. I reply 'Uh, I'm making the casserole you requested..?'. Coko says she will get back to me.
4:40pm : Gandalf comes over to make smoking strawberries on my stove. There is a brief incident involving sugar that smells like salsa.
5 pm : I am excited when I realise Bring It On is on TV. We tune in just in time to catch SPIRIT FINGERS.
5:15pm : Coko and E arrive with a raw roast in tow. The cooking adventure begins.
time unknown: Gandalf shocks stonejewel with a demonstration of his dancing prowess a la Bring It On.

*time elapses during which roast fiascos occur: cooked, not cooked, microwaved, too cooked, undercooked, microwaved etc etc.*

Suffice it to say Bring it On, 80s music, cold food, crazy candles and Beauty and the Beast set the theme for the evening. Parties with Coko are ALWAYS fun! For more eloquent descriptions of the evening click the links!

posted by allimalia 7:00 PM

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

Maybe I Should Become a Chiropractor...

During my recent trip to Toronto I was brought to a housewarming party. Evidently I don't make too striking of an impression. Depsite the fact that I was introduced to the host and proceeded to have a somewhat lengthy conversation with him, I heard him tell someone (with some trepidation) that I was studying something to do with helping people. Later in the evening, even my name escaped him as someone he was talking to came over and asked what my name was.

That's okay tho, I'm not trying to say that he was obligated to remember me or anything of the sort, just sort of a demonstration of the type of evening it was. The next thing that happened was someone telling me that we must have met before for I looked very familiar. (No, not a pick-up line, he's married.) After explaining to him that I wasn't from Toronto and listing the cities I've lived in, he decided perhaps he didn't know me. Just as he was leaving tho, he figured it out and came back in to say "I know why I recognised you! You look just like my chiropractor!" This was stated in a voice of sufficient volume that all conversation in the apartment stopped and everyone stared at me and wondered "Who is she??"

Yep, I think I've found my calling. Do they give interview for chiropractry school? I want to answer the question "When did you first know you wanted to be a chiropractor?".

posted by allimalia 5:51 PM

Sunday, October 24, 2004

Bad Math

ATP + MT = BN

*ATP = Alli the Procrastinator
MT = Midterms
BN = Bad News

posted by allimalia 10:41 PM

Tuesday, October 12, 2004

Who knew a Monday evening on MSN could garner such amusing conversations....

Actually - on second thought, i better keep the first one private. =)) : Have I got some stuff to tell you!

Second convo : background info -- had a little bday get-together on Sunday nite.. among those to attend was C.

In the course of tonite's MSN convo I say to C - so what'd you do last nite after dinner? He replies that he played video games all nite, and then adds that he did stop by a birthday thing first tho. My response : Wow, so many birthdays. Him : what other birthday thing have i been to? I am now confused and a conversation revolving around the issue of whether not he is on crack ensues. He admits to perhaps being on crack, but could I please humour him? So I spell it out "So you left my birthday thing, and went to another one?"

To which he responds
"OH MY.. IT WAS YOUR BDAY I'M SO SORRY HAPPY BDAY" (except he didn't exactly stick to the words oh my, but that's beside the point).

and you think your friends know you well.........

posted by allimalia 1:28 AM

Saturday, October 02, 2004

How Are You? O Genki Desu Ka? Ni Hao Ma? Comment ca va?

I've been asked this question many times, in many languages. How many times a day do we get asked? I don't know, but I do know that my stock answer is "Good, good, how're u?".

I think though, that I need to really stop and figure out how I am. How I am goes beyond the bland descriptors of "OK" , "Good" and so on. So the answer to this question is for starters that I'm good, I'm more than good! I'm busy, but I'm happy. There are many things I want, but hardly anything I need. I have the privilege of being educated. I live in a great place. My parents love me. The world is my oyster :) So yup... I'm not just good, I'm very good!

(Alli likes to babble at 3am ... please bear with her.)

(Alli also likes to talk in the 3rd person at 3am. Don't judge her for that!)

posted by allimalia 2:03 AM

Friday, September 24, 2004

Silence is Golden, Isn't It?

=)) : Here is my update.

After the flood of responses I received about my blog last time, I think I've been scared to post again! I waffled between deleting the post, editting the post and just never sharing my thoughts again :p

Let me just pause here and say that I never said in my post that I didn't enjoy my time in Montreal. It was merely an observation on the fact that life marches on inexorably and sometimes, the grass looks greener in the past. (How's that for metaphor abuse?) Which is not to say that the grass isn't STILL green now :)

Speaking of green grass...I was going to segue into a brilliant diatribe on a witty and amusing topic which would move smoothly from green grass to deep philosophical insights. However, I'm no 8W.

Let me just say that it ain't easy being green :)

posted by allimalia 10:34 AM

Friday, August 20, 2004

Sometimes, Coming Home Just Isn't The Same Anymore

Been back in Montreal for a day short of two weeks now. It's been a different sort of vacation -- kind of like going home because it isn't all go-go-go. It's been a lot of down-time and me-time (translation MSN time) mixed in with hanging out with friends and peppered with the excitement of wedding preparations. Don't get me wrong, I've had a great time here... but it's just that... I .... yeah....

I think I've always seen Montreal in a bit of a glowing angel light -- not unlike that snazziest of lights they employ on Touched By an Angel ...... not that I watch that show of course... *shifty-eyed alli*. Somehow though, the light has dimmed. Not a reflection on the people I know -- who are great!! -- or the city I love, but just a realisation that life goes on, things change and you can't always keep coming home.

For the many nomads that I've encountered during my adventures in Vancouver, Montreal, Tokyo and Edmonton -- where's home?

posted by allimalia 2:29 PM

Friday, August 06, 2004

Bonjour Montreal, Mata ne Edmonton

ETA in Montreal : 9pm Saturday evening. (FOLKS, that's TOMORROW!!!! Hmmm.. Alli struck by the thought that.. wouldn't it suck if I was the only one this excited? And like... no one else was? .......... *hello insecure moment*)
HaHa.
H: This one's for you --> Evil has left the building.

posted by allimalia 10:37 AM

Friday, July 30, 2004

I Want My Mommy!

Hungry and lazy. A bad combination. That means I'll be eating instant noodles tonight. This is one of those moments where I'd really appreciate having my mommy around. This brings to mind something that happened many many years ago.

I must have been 5/6. It was lunchtime on the ski hill and we were all gathered in the Ski Scamps lunch tent. There was a little boy who was particularly upset... "I want my mommy! I want my mommy! I want my mommy!". He was screaming this out in the midst of gulping down his sobs. The instructors tried to distract him "How about some lunch? Do you want a hot dog? What do you want on it?" "I want my mommy! I want my mommy! I want my mommy".

The instructors gave up. "Okay, we'll go find your mommy and put her in your hot dog."

posted by allimalia 4:54 PM

Friday, July 23, 2004

Annie Get Your Gun

Oh man... this is so worth a post. I've always suspected that it's easier to get a gun than to do just about anything else in the good ol U.S. of A. Today, my suspicion has been confirmed b/c of this. Further credence is lent to this story by virtue of the fact that I know Calvin, this is not some random urban legend!

posted by allimalia 3:32 PM

Tuesday, July 13, 2004

What's Next? Locusts?

So... 10 days ago Edmonton was hit with some pretty severe rain. That would be the day my sister arrived -- let's not draw any conclusion from that since it was raining before she got here ;)

Anyway, that night I decide to bravely forgo the comforts of cokoandlime's lovely abode and introduct my sis to my humble little burrow in the ground. Open door. Wet floor. WET FLOOR?! Wet wall...... WET FUTON?!!!! (from the GROUND people, from the ground...)

Yah... after shop-vacing it all up we settled into my oh-so-NOT-comfy hide-a-bed and proceeded to listen to my drunken neighbours party it up. (Have I mentioned that we are SO SO SO moving!?).

The next day we hightailed it outta there to our temporary lotusland -- aka cokoandlime's digs.

6 days ago another rainstorm hits. I have to drive east to sherwood park for an interview... Let me just say that although I grew up in Vancouver and have seen my fair share of rain, I've never actually driven through flooded streets!

2 days ago .....

Sunday afternoon at 3:30pm : Driving through hail along Jasper Ave, my phone rings

"MAKE IT STOP EVIL! MAKE IT STOP!" -- oh its just H... :p

4 pm : E picks up sis and I to go for some INDOOR volleyball. No more rain in downtown, in fact, other than a slight puddle at 110th and Jasper, its like nothing has happened...
E's phone begins to ring... and ring... and ring...

"M and R got stuck on the Whitemud but I just kept driving, my engine's making funny noises now though"

"111th St. is flooded"

"W is stuck in his car by his house"

"The water is up to my engine"

"Whitemud is flooded"

"I saw people swimming out of their cars!"

We look around downtown .... "Ummm... it's pretty dry here...."

For photos : clicky here

P.S. ...

posted by allimalia 8:07 AM

Sunday, July 04, 2004

Alli's LoBTTHHTMSICTE

(Alli's List of Bad Things That Have Happened to Me Since I Came To Edmonton)

approximately in chronological order

my car battery died over the christmas holidays
my upstairs neighbour's bathroom had problems and my basement suite got flooded
my new car battery died and left me stranded and made me miss a free premiere i could have gone to
the radiator in my car called it quits and i subsequently had to replace the radiator, cooling pump, thermostat and alternator belt
edmonton is hit by torrential rains and my basement gets soaked - no, not flooded...

maybe i should just call this EHMC (Edmonton Hates My Car)

poor poor princess.

(35 days till montreal)

posted by allimalia 9:17 AM

Sunday, June 20, 2004

Limey Limey Limey...

How can I disable your xanga?

So, back in May I got blamed for some rain.

And now again, I get "blamed" for the sunshine.

So after my "friends" read Limey's lovely post I get told by two of them to please not come back and that they hope my evil powers will begone.

I return to Edmonton after four days in Toronto to be greeted by Hank addressing me not as Alli but as evil.

As in, "Oh, evil, you're back!"

or
Chris : "Ow, the sunlight is hurting my eyes"
Hank : "Don't worry, evil is here. It will rain tomorrow."

or

during a lovely game of Bang!

"Oh no, evil touched the card, now its going to kill me!"

What can I say -- I'm just feeling the love here in Edmonton.

( 48 days till Montreal )

posted by allimalia 11:12 PM

Saturday, June 12, 2004

The Meaning of DOH!

So just now after a long day of Bible study, turning pages for Connie the pianist and eating in the southside at a yummy bbq, I get dropped off at home by Jon and Connie.

I walk down the side path to the backyard, open the gate and glance at the back alley.

No car.

RIGHT. I drove to Jon and Connie's earlier today.

DOH.

posted by allimalia 10:35 PM

Tuesday, June 08, 2004

Burned, by my own friend...

J : I love your writing
me : me? !
J : you?
J : you waht? [sic]
me : u love my writing?!
J : oh
J : wrong msg
J : hahhaa
J : but yes.. :$

posted by allimalia 5:16 PM

Friday, June 04, 2004

Gunners, PMing and OPs

So a "friend" (okay, just kidding, he's my friend for real!) of mine introduced me to this EVIL website.

In theory, this is a great thing. Pre-meds, med students, residents helping each other out, giving/getting the scoop on apps and interviews, schools, places to study.

Background info... American application process

May 1 : App is available
June 1 : App can be submitted
Oct 15 : App submission deadline.
What with rolling admissions, mid-June is said to be a deadline of sorts. (Especially with my loovely grades. Sigh.)

So why do I think this site is evil? Well.... let me tell you, it really is quite a terrible feeling when you read posts about people who are on the 17th draft of their personal statement/essay... and then you notice the date of the post is DECEMBER 2003!
(I think I started my essay on June 1st. oops.)

Sigh.

On the upside, I've learned a few new terms :

gunner
quote : gunners are those pre-med students who will do ANYTHING to get the best grade (except probably not sleep with the prof - those are called hoes and are in a different category) they study an insane amount. they don't help other people out. they will not answer your questions even though you know they know the answer. cause they think you not knowing is to their advantage. they hope you get bad grades so they will look even better. some of them brag about their grades. others are quiet and smug about them. but you know they got the best grade and they are sure that makes them the best person. they believe everyone else to be inferior and the fact that no one else gets the highest grade just proves it. they kiss the prof's ass all the time in front of everyone and don't seem to feel any shame about it. they prefer not to make friends with their classmates. their only friend is the prof, cause he is the one handing them the A.

PM
personal messaging. okay this one isn't so exciting, but let me tell you, its mystifying when you keep reading posts that say "just PM me..." (let's try not to draw any conclusions between my inability to figure this one and out and my chances of getting into med school)

OP
oh wait. ~~i haven't figured this out yet~~... I GOT IT! Original Poster! That must be it.

posted by allimalia 1:56 PM

Monday, May 31, 2004

Best Compliment EVER

8W says:
you always look good even when you screw with your face